History of Welborn

In March 1999, Welborn Memorial Baptist Hospital was sold to St. Mary’s Medical Center. Assets from the sale provided resources for the Welborn Foundation and a separate entity, the Welborn Baptist Foundation – specifically created to preserve the Baptist heritage of the hospital.

Then on January 1, 2005, the Welborn Foundation and the Welborn Baptist Foundation merged their assets and operations to create one entity, the Welborn Baptist Foundation.

Welborn now exists to support both the geographies and the missions previously and proudly served by Welborn Memorial Baptist Hospital.

The Foundation opened its first grant cycle in April 2000.

Our Vision

Communities flourishing with the well-being, abundance and peace that God desires.

“Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth, and no one will even think about the old ones anymore. Be glad; rejoice forever in my creation!” Isaiah 65:17-18a (NLT) – New Heavens and a New Earth

Our Mission & Legacy

Cultivating Communities that Flourish

As an organization, we have awarded over 1,875 grants, totaling $85 million in 14 counties over 25+ years. Today, more than ever, Welborn is focused on the value of partnerships in driving towards outcomes – moving the needles. Learning and growing together!

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Our Funding Approach

Welborn seeks to help nonprofit organizations thrive and transform our community. We fund change in two important areas:

Investing in Nonprofit Excellence. The most fundamental driver of change is a community with well-equipped, trained nonprofit leadership at all levels.
Funding programs with high community impact, in critical focus areas. The Foundation has identified Early Education, Healthy Communities and Christ-Centered Communities as priorities for strategic investments. Each represents a pivotal area for significant improvement in this place where we all live, learn, work, play, and pray.
Early Education gives kids the start they need for a lifetime of learning; Healthy Communities promotes a lifestyle of health; and Christ-Centered Communities reaches all with the life-changing love of Christ.

How We Work

Longer, deeper grantee relationships – Our focused strategy allows us to have closer, more effective relationships with grantees – to accelerate community change through growing, sustainable organizations.

Emphasis on collaboration – The magnitude and complexity of these community issues exceed the capacity of any one organization to address. We seek increasing levels of collaboration among organizations, funders, and other community partners.

Measuring and sharing impact – We are committed to evaluating the impact of our investments, as well as fostering a commitment to measurement and improvement within the organizations we fund. We see evaluation as learning for refinement, not a report card.